An end brings a new beginning…

by ash2charlotte

First, I apologize for my lazy blogging. There are no reason for excuses, so I will try to catch you up on the past 4 weeks.

Institute finished up in Cleveland, Mississippi with a BANG! It was one of the best weeks of my life. My students did relatively well on their end of summer “brain puzzles”. 7 out of 10 reached their BIG goals, and the other three were sooooo close to reaching it. The week was typical with the end of the year nostalgia that comes with any ending of something good. The last day was fabulous. We got to spend the whole day with the kids without any interventions for meetings and other TFA requirements. We did game stations, danced, played kickball in the 105 degree heat, and talked about going to college in the year 2024! The kids were so excited and we tried to be excited too. Then there was the one little girl who I spoke about in the previous post… The little girl who usually cried because she came to school was crying now because summer school was over. She cried to me about not having a nice teacher in 4th grade, and not wanting her “favorite teachers on earth” to leave Greenville. It was so ironic. I fought this little girl to succeed for nearly 4 weeks, and now at the end of summer school, she was on board. We ended the day with hugs, exchanging phone numbers, and teary eyes as our kiddos loaded the buses for the last time with their scholarly attitudes. When I left school that day, I had 3 missed calls from the stubborn young lady. I still talk to her on the phone 2 times per week and listen to all her tales about 4th grade in Mississippi.

After a 12 hour car drive, my room mate and I arrive back in Charlotte. We finished organizing our quaint apartment, and I traveled home for some brief vacations, my best friend’s wedding, and some much need relaxation. Before I knew it we were back to work in Charlotte when I found out that I would be teaching…. 7th grade english! What?! I was supposed to be teaching math. After a slight panic attack, I was onboard to teaching English, and tried to get myself prepared as I went through 3 weeks of vigorous training in Charlotte. Over these weeks, we talked about EVERY detail in our classroom from big goals to classroom management to decorations on the wall. I can picture everything except for my students. So, now I am at an ending. It is the ending of talking about this imaginary classroom and the start of having a REAL classroom!! In a mere 12 days, I will teach 75 7th graders to love reading, writing, and thinking like a scholar!